It's a Dog's Life
by She-Wolf the Marauder
Summary: Katrina lives all alone in a small apartment and lives an ordinary muggle life. What happens when she adopts a mangy, malnourished black dog? R/R


Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters/things are owned by JK Rowling and all her affiliates, etc.  
  
~**~  
  
"Here doggy, Come here!" Said 32 year old, Katrina Brooke said trying to get the huge dog that was standing in her driveway to come over.  
  
Katrina wasn't the exact image of beauty. Her thick framed glasses and hair in a bun always gave her the image of being a- 'nerd.' Her small self and her quiet demeanor usually let people walk all over her.  
  
The dog that was standing in her driveway just stood there, staring at her. Katrina finally gave up and pulled out her sandwich that she had made for her lunch out of her bag that she was carrying, using it to get the dog to come over.  
  
It still stood there, now staring at the sandwich. Katrina could tell it was very hungry and she could see its ribcage and bones.  
  
"Come on, please! I have to go somewhere!" She said getting annoyed, but she still stayed away from it. For all she knew it had rabies or distemper.  
  
Finally the sandwich offer won over the dog and it walked over. She tore off a piece for it and held it out for it but it still wouldn't come. She tossed it to him and in a flash he grabbed it and swallowed it whole. She tore off another piece, this time not throwing it to it. Very slowly, the dog walked over and took the sandwich and ate it before licking her hands to get all of the crumbs it could.  
  
"That wasn't so bad was it?" She said as she scratched behind his ears. She saw it was a male and he didn't have any tags. He was also thinner than she thought.  
  
Katrina looked him over. He looked nice enough. She stood up and saw he was still hungry by the way he was sniffing the ground for crumbs.  
  
"Come on, I'll go see if I have any more food for you," She said leading him into the house. She knew it wasn't a very smart move but she was softhearted when it came to animals.  
  
She soon found leftover chicken for the night before and put it in a bowl and he starting eating. She could tell he was definitely starving. She looked at him contemplating if she should keep him.  
  
"I guess that would be alright," She said talking to herself. "I'll just have to cut back on over time and I could keep him."  
  
She wanted to help the poor beast. Then again, she thought, it might be good for her to have a companion. She was awfully alone and maybe a dog might help. She hadn't had dogs for a long time.  
  
She nodded again, "I'll keep him."  
  
The dog barely even noticed her talking, too busy eating. He didn't mind either, it was better than the rats he was used to.  
  
Little did she know that the dog she happened to adopt was the wizarding world's most infamous convict, Sirius Black.  
  
* * *  
  
She also knew she would have to get him his shots and neutered. She looked at him. It had been two days since she adopted him. She was happy to see him start gaining weight and he seemed to like it in her small apartment, along with the walks she provided since she didn't have a yard. She still hadn't named him yet, shed like to get to know the dog before she thought of a name.  
  
"Well, come on dog. Today's the day we go to the v-e-t," She said grabbing a leash. She still didn't have all of the dog necessities since she still wasn't entirely sure she was going to keep him. It all depended what the vet said.  
  
The dog looked at her in utmost horror. She had a strange feeling he could understand her.  
  
"Come on, got to go get you- clipped," She said watching his strange behavior.  
  
He suddenly jumped off of the couch and ran to the door attempting to get out. She watched amazed, as he seemed to almost know how to open a door.  
  
She started to change her mind, if a dog was this smart and this defensive about getting neutered maybe she should let it slide. This wasn't the way she was taught. She had known ever since she was a child that to help out with dogs and over populating, all dogs should be neutered or spayed if they aren't for breeding purpose, but then again- this is a very smart dog and she felt maybe he should be spared.  
  
"Fine! I'll let you stay -erm- intact. But one growl and I swear you will be at the vet so fast you wouldn't even know they were gone until you felt extra light and springy," She said.  
  
He stopped pawing at the door and sat like a good doggy.  
  
"Good boy," She said as she clipped the leash to his collar.  
  
He stared at her still feeling disgruntled.  
  
"Oh come on, its not Ithat/I bad, is it? Only a couple shots!" She said leading him out the door. "It's not like it's the end of the world!"  
  
She had to drag him into the car. He didn't make a sound but she could tell he didn't like this one bit.  
  
* * *  
  
"Brookes, Katrina and 'Dog'?" A vet said looking at his clipboard.  
  
Katrina stood up and still hauled the dog in. She noticed he slid better on the floor.  
  
The vet looked up and politely smiled, "Hello, just shots today?"  
  
Katrina nodded, "Just shots. He's not really happy about it though."  
  
The vet clearly saw this, "Well, he's better than some. Can you put him on the table?"  
  
She had to struggle to pick him up and put him on the table. He was very heavy. And although he didn't struggle to get down, she still glared at the two as if they killed his brother or something.  
  
The vet, Dr. Kelley, disappearing into a back room before coming back with four shots.  
  
"Are you going to get him neutered?" He asked.  
  
She looked at the dog- he looked borderline between terror and anger.  
  
"Uh- no," She replied quickly.  
  
"Are you sure? We could schedule him for next week." The Vet said still pursuing the topic.  
  
"No thank you. I don't think he'd like that very much," She said looking at the dog, who glared at the vet who was still looking like he was going to say something.  
  
The vet wisely shut up about it.  
  
"Ok, can you hold him, or pet him while I give him the shots?" He said and Katrina grabbed the dog to keep him from running. Which he looked like he was going to do any second.  
  
* * *  
  
The dog closed his eyes tightly not wanting to feel the shots go in. The gentle strokes from her didn't help much but it was better knowing that she was there than being left behind with the vet who seemed to be rather fond of his scalpel.  
  
"There! All done!"  
  
He opened his eyes. Done? He hadn't even felt a needle, never the less five. He looked around, panting.  
  
"This one is pretty beat up though," He heard the vet say as he examined him.  
  
'You try living two years off of rats, buddy,' Sirius, the dog, muttered to himself. Although to the humans it only came out as a grunt.  
  
"And he's pretty malnourished," he continued, only hearing the dogs grunt.  
  
'Once again, you try living two years off of rats,' Sirius said again snippily. Still in a dog-like way of course. The two humans only heard another grunt of annoyance.  
  
"Well, all I can say is feed him well but don't over feed him," the vet instructed handing Katrina a couple pamphlets.  
  
She grabbed the leash and led him out, and he followed still feeling disgruntled. He stared at the other dogs that stared back. A big boxer growled softly at him. Sirius just glared at the boxer and the boxer shut up quickly, the boxer sensed the dog wasn't right. He turned and obediently waited for his 'master' to pay them.  
  
Finally after a little bit of chatting they left and Sirius coughed a they walked out that sounded suspiciously like 'quacks.'  
  
Katrina led him to her car, "Well, I guess we should go to a pet store. Since you'll be staying with me and all." She opened the door and he obediently jumped inside and laid on the seat.  
  
* * *  
  
Sirius Black, still in dog form, laid on the couch while his 'master' was at work. He didn't know WHY he was staying but he figured it had to do something with the food. It was still better than eating rats and garbage. He had originally stayed at his friend, Remus', house but that didn't pan out. Apparently the ministry had a new law that werewolves were to be checked up on about three times a month to make sure everything was alright. Werewolves, to most, were untrustworthy.  
  
Sirius snorted, the Ministry to him, were a bunch of old frauds. Now they had even made a werewolf code of laws. What were they going to come up with next?  
  
Suddenly as he watched cars driving by the small apartment, he saw a small brown thing fly by the window and he jumped. Suddenly the brown thing landed on the windowsill and Sirius saw what it was an owl. He put his paw to the window and after a little bit of trying to push the window open, he succeeded. The owl flew in and dropped a letter on the couch and flew off. Sirius tried to get the window closed again but it didn't work as well as opening it, and he did not dare to turn into a human for fear of being seen. He gave up trying to close the window and turned to the letter, he grabbed it and run into the bathroom so he could read it and not be spotted by anyone.  
  
Once he was in the bathroom he turned into a human and opened the letter eagerly. It was from Harry Potter, his godson. Sirius couldn't help but grin.  
  
ISirius,  
  
Remus sent me an owl to tell me that you had left. Why don't you come back to Hogwarts? I'm not is fifth year, as you probably know nothing's happened yet and I guess that's good, isn't it? Professor Dumbledore still seems worried though. He's never at dinner and when we ask Professor McGonagall about it she says he at important meetings and such. Hermione and Ron say 'hi.' Do be careful, okay?  
  
Harry/I  
  
Sirius looked around for a place to hide the letter when another owl flew in and a letter fluttered down. Sirius suddenly heard the door lock unlocking and his eyes went wide. He grabbed the letters and shoved them into his pockets and quickly turned into a dog again right as the door opened. 


End file.
